Justin Lin says Terminator 5 won't feature original cast

"I don't know where that [rumor] came from. Everything has just been between me and Arnold, you know? Just us going out and trying to find the right partners. I have certain elements, but it's never been about, 'hey, let's bring everybody back," Lin told MTV during a recent interview.

"To me, thematically, there are certain things that I want to see in a 'Terminator' movie. A lot of that does draw back to creating this timeline that is an extension, closer tonally to the first and second movies. But to me, it's not as mathematical as, 'Hey, let's get everybody back together and we'll shoot the movie.'"

Lin also emphasized that he was unlikely to adhere to the continuity set in place by "Rise of the Machines" and "Salvation."

"I always feel like what's great about the 'Terminator' franchise is that there's time-travel and there are different timelines to play with. There are also a lot of gaps from what we love about all of the 'Terminator' movies, so there's a lot of things we can do and play with.

"To me, that's part of the fun of developing. But the bigger questions for me are always the characters and the themes. You want to start there. But obviously, [Terminator] does have that capability, finding fresh ways of going back without destroying other [movies], because you can [always] tell your own stories," he added.